We had a wonderful time at Joyful Noise 2018 last weekend. The music festival drew thousands of people to hear great Christian music from well-known artists.

Our own Changed Lives choir performed there as well, backing the wildly talented Dan Adler and the Heart of the City singers.

And if you were able to attend, you might have seen the Mission providing free family portraits for folks who came to our booth.

While the worship and food were wonderful despite the persistent rain most of Saturday, the greatest impact of the event was the opportunity for families to connect and build memories. Have fun. Laugh together.

They’ll always look back and remember last Saturday.

“Do you remember that year at Joyful Noise when it rained all day and dad set up a makeshift tent with a plastic tarp? Our nachos got wet but it was awesome!”

The connections like so many families made on Saturday are the reason why the Mission is here. When someone is homeless, they lose their connection to family and friends. They break trust. No one wants them around anymore.

When people like you help someone facing homelessness to get off the streets; when you help lift someone from the dark shadows of addiction; when you give someone a foundation in biblical truth, family and friends watch the transformation of their loved one occurring right before their eyes.

… family and friends watch the transformation of their loved one occurring right before their eyes.

Our student’s families and friends realize they can trust their loved one again. In turn, that motivates their friend or relative at the Mission to work even harder to get back on his or her feet.

Pretty soon, we see big smiles on our students’ faces as they tell of visits with girlfriends, children, or grandchildren. They pull out their phones and show us photos of their loved ones. Their hearts swell with pride as they tell of their kid’s accomplishments on the soccer field or in the workplace. They tell of God’s faithfulness in their absence.

We love it when dads reunite with their kids, husbands with their wives, grandmothers with their grandkids.

Here’s what one student said recently:

“I burnt all my relationships either through alcohol or drug use. Nobody trusted me anymore … [Because of the Mission] I’m building a stronger foundation for those bridges so that it’s better.  Now, everything excites me about the future. I have the whole world to look forward to. This is the beginning; this is not the end for me. To me this is where my life begins. This is where I go from here.”

That’s why we focused on family portraits at Joyful Noise this year: to tell our guests that families matter. That reuniting our students and guests at the Mission with their loved ones matters.

So when you give to the Mission, you’re helping rebuild connections and reuniting families. Thank you for caring for our friends at the Mission and all of the people with whom they are connected.